DESCRIPTION: Protective clothing is one of the most important personal protective equipment for emergency responders, who are facing increased occupational threats in their high risk jobs. However, currently used protective clothing has significant shortfalls, including the lack of multiple-purpose protective clothing, the unsatisfactory protective performance, and the tradeoff between protection and comfort. The long term goal of this project is to develop novel wearable thermal, biological, and chemical protective clothing materials with enhanced comfort performance for emergency responders. To reach this goal, currently used thermal protective fabrics (Nomex, Kevlar, and PBI) will be chosen as the base material, and a coating technology will be employed to coat reusable and rechargeable polymeric oxidizers onto the base fabrics through breathable flame-retardant coatings containing chemical absorbents. The specific aims of the proposed research are to: (1) screen reusable and rechargeable polymeric oxidizers that can effectively decontaminate surrogates of biological and chemical warfare agents; (2) establish the optimal formulations and technologies to coat the selected polymeric oxidizers onto thermal protective fabrics through breathable flame-retardant coatings containing chemical absorbents; (3) evaluate the thermal protective, biological protective and chemical protective functions, the mechanical properties, as well as the comfort performance of the new fabrics; and (4) collect preliminary data to determine the cost of the new approach. These specific aims are designed to demonstrate the concept that wearable multi-purpose protective clothing can be developed to provide thermal, biological, and chemical protective activities simultaneously. This R03 research will serve as an important base for the continuation and expansion of the project to improve the occupational safety and health of emergency responders.